Accents?
Sep 23rd, 2003, 10:48 AM
#41
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The PBS documentary you might be thinking of is "The Story of English." Maybe not, but I recall part of the series focusing on regional dialects here in the US. The settlers of different regions carried their regional dialects from The Merry Olde... Northern accents are primarily from London and parts of Yorkshire (as someone stated), Tidewater accents from someplace else, etc...
Personally, I find some Southern accents warm and welcoming and others grating. Anything like Flo's exaggerated "kiss my grits" is like nails on a chalk board to me. Despite being relatively accent-free, myself, I grew up in NJ and now live in Boston, so I know nails on a chalk board!
Personally, I find some Southern accents warm and welcoming and others grating. Anything like Flo's exaggerated "kiss my grits" is like nails on a chalk board to me. Despite being relatively accent-free, myself, I grew up in NJ and now live in Boston, so I know nails on a chalk board!
Sep 23rd, 2003, 11:54 AM
#42
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soccr, you seem to be well informed with regards to historical accents. What kind of accent would the following have had- George Washington, Patrick Henry, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Alexander Hamilton, JohnQuincy Adams, Andrew Jackson, Robert E. Lee, Jefferson Davis, Abe Lincoln and Stonewall Jackson?
Sep 23rd, 2003, 12:20 PM
#43
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Growing up in PA whenever I heard a southern accent it made me cringe. But now that I've actually lived here for a few years I find I barely notice it anymore. But I do notice the thick PA Dutch accent my relatives have and it now makes me cringe!
Funny thing though, my SO is from Russia, moved here about 7 yrs ago. An associate of ours speaks with the thickest Southern accent I ever heard. Sometimes I can not understand him. But my SO can understand him perfectly! I think it is because he has gotten used to listening more carefully than I have had to.
Funny thing though, my SO is from Russia, moved here about 7 yrs ago. An associate of ours speaks with the thickest Southern accent I ever heard. Sometimes I can not understand him. But my SO can understand him perfectly! I think it is because he has gotten used to listening more carefully than I have had to.
Sep 23rd, 2003, 01:07 PM
#45
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Good point on Hamilton. Euro-Caribbeans are almost a lost tribe, if you may, and are mostly absorbed into the African-Caribbean population. It would be interesting to know what kind of accent Hamilton spoke with.
Sep 23rd, 2003, 02:19 PM
#46
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Yikes! My face is red and burning! I'm sorry to offend, guess I should write my responses in one sitting. I will attempt to be more clear about what I meant.
I admitted that I do judge people's intelligence by the way they speak. I am not necessarily proud of this but people who use both bad grammar and talk slower (like many southerners do) I tend to think they are slower mentally. I KNOW they are not dumb. I appreciated Catherine's comment "Just because I talk slow, doesn't mean I think slow" as something I need to remember when talking/listening to people with accents, especially southern.
I meant to say I find it easier to understand those people who pronounce the words with all the letters that are supposed to be pronounced.
I am not sure it was 'politeness' that kept people repeating what I did not understand. Yelling at someone who does not speak your language is not polite. It might have been nicer to try and find another way to say it. Usually, when I figured out what they were saying (if I was able to) I usually would make a joke that was learning (taking the blame on myself).
The question asked if we found southern accents annoying, my opinion is yes. Not all but certainly a heavy southern accent will eventually grate on my nerves.
So sorry!!
I admitted that I do judge people's intelligence by the way they speak. I am not necessarily proud of this but people who use both bad grammar and talk slower (like many southerners do) I tend to think they are slower mentally. I KNOW they are not dumb. I appreciated Catherine's comment "Just because I talk slow, doesn't mean I think slow" as something I need to remember when talking/listening to people with accents, especially southern.
I meant to say I find it easier to understand those people who pronounce the words with all the letters that are supposed to be pronounced.
I am not sure it was 'politeness' that kept people repeating what I did not understand. Yelling at someone who does not speak your language is not polite. It might have been nicer to try and find another way to say it. Usually, when I figured out what they were saying (if I was able to) I usually would make a joke that was learning (taking the blame on myself).
The question asked if we found southern accents annoying, my opinion is yes. Not all but certainly a heavy southern accent will eventually grate on my nerves.
So sorry!!
Sep 23rd, 2003, 02:45 PM
#50
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Where do you draw the line? Turn on the radio, you'll hear some pretty egregious errors in spoken grammar ("none of the survivors were [sic] injured"-- that should be "...was..."; "she told my wife and I [sic]"-- it should be "she told me and my wife"). Do you call everyone who makes mistakes like that a nitwit?
I know what you mean. In business situations, around strangers and in public speaking, I actually hyper-correct myself, speaking extremely precisely (I studied language in college, so it's ingrained in me-- and annoying to friends; but I can't help it). Around people with whom I'm comfortable, my Southern grammar comes back and it's "ain't" and "Can y'all get me a Stoli Screwdriver?" and "WhaddayaMEAN he don't have Stoli?!" (and I curse like a sailor with Tourette's and hemorrhoids). If sufficiently surrounded by other Southerners, all bets are off. But everyone still thinks it's cute.
My brother-in-law is from rural Arkansas, and his twangy accent is a bit grating (maybe because of the annoying banalities he's usually saying, but that's another whole family therapy session). The gentle purr of my uncle's wife's Virginia drawl (and she's a brilliant woman who happens to speak in measured cadences) is beautiful, in contrast. It just depends on the region and the speaker.
I know what you mean. In business situations, around strangers and in public speaking, I actually hyper-correct myself, speaking extremely precisely (I studied language in college, so it's ingrained in me-- and annoying to friends; but I can't help it). Around people with whom I'm comfortable, my Southern grammar comes back and it's "ain't" and "Can y'all get me a Stoli Screwdriver?" and "WhaddayaMEAN he don't have Stoli?!" (and I curse like a sailor with Tourette's and hemorrhoids). If sufficiently surrounded by other Southerners, all bets are off. But everyone still thinks it's cute.
My brother-in-law is from rural Arkansas, and his twangy accent is a bit grating (maybe because of the annoying banalities he's usually saying, but that's another whole family therapy session). The gentle purr of my uncle's wife's Virginia drawl (and she's a brilliant woman who happens to speak in measured cadences) is beautiful, in contrast. It just depends on the region and the speaker.
Sep 23rd, 2003, 02:48 PM
#51
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Oh how I wish Jeff Foxworthy would respond to this one.
You might be a redneck if............
If my memory serves me correctly, this great southern comedian (who uses lots and lots of incorrect grammer)is a GA Tech graduate (electrical engineer, I believe)...and worked for IBM for a few years before making tons of money by talking southern!!
You might be a redneck if............
If my memory serves me correctly, this great southern comedian (who uses lots and lots of incorrect grammer)is a GA Tech graduate (electrical engineer, I believe)...and worked for IBM for a few years before making tons of money by talking southern!!
Sep 23rd, 2003, 03:46 PM
#53
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That's right-- "none" is singular (a shortening of "no one"). You're also right-- it sounds and looks funny. It's a grammar error which is so ingrained in spoken and written English that it's accepted as correct.
Sep 23rd, 2003, 03:47 PM
#54
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Yes Rusty. None is the same as "not one."
Sara, you're digging yourself a deeper hole.
If I were to judge you on your sentence structure and grammar the way you judge us silly, slow-talkin' ole' suthenuhs, I'd say you must not have done too well in your English classes deah!
Bless your heart
Sara, you're digging yourself a deeper hole.
If I were to judge you on your sentence structure and grammar the way you judge us silly, slow-talkin' ole' suthenuhs, I'd say you must not have done too well in your English classes deah!
Bless your heart
Sep 23rd, 2003, 04:55 PM
#57
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As a born & raised Southerner I find your comments very offensive. I have traveled all over the U.S. and I have never had any one treat me like an idiot because they couldn't understand me. My husband has some difficulties understanding some people from different regions, but he will ask me "what did they say", and makes every effort not to be impolite. Sounds like you need a lesson in how to be a human being.
Sep 24th, 2003, 04:06 AM
#60
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PCH,my friend...It is the simple ideas that the liberals can't fathom that are giving me fits.
What is really giving me fite now is that Hillary may need to enter the race now that Dubya is losing ground the the pathetic field of democrats. Waddya think,Clinton/Clark ticket for the Dems?
What is really giving me fite now is that Hillary may need to enter the race now that Dubya is losing ground the the pathetic field of democrats. Waddya think,Clinton/Clark ticket for the Dems?
